I (and nearly 10 million Greeks) eat them quite regularly during the summer. I just pull them straight out of my yard while doing yard work, throw them into a pile, and my wife cleans them. You need a great big pile of cleaned leaves to make one batch.
They are bitter as all hell if you don't cook them properly. First, throw them into a pot without any water and cook them slowly until they release all of their own water. Pour the water out, add fresh water and boil them again. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water, drain thoroughly again - repeat this process twice. They will still be bitter. Put them into a big bowl and pour in equal amounts of olive oil and lemon juice, enough to make them all shiny and easy to stir around, don't be stingy. A little bit of sea salt don't hurt, either.. Cover the bowl and let it sit in the fridge for at least 2 days - then it's ready to eat. You eat it cold or at room temperature, not warm.
The Greeks call it "horta", and it goes well as a side dish with anything.
It's delicious! Especially braised in red wine.. MmmmmDeer. Never had it before.
BeerGrylls said:I could've done without eating bear, though. Tastes like old tough steak marinated in used motor oil.
roastquake said:I read somewhere that dandelion leaves make a good bitter salad green. I plan on trying this, and hopefully getting into more foraged food. Anybody have any links for that?
I don't know about links but you should be able to get the old Foxfire books from the library. Books 1-6 have great information about foraging.
When I was little my Mom used to take us out to forage to supplement our groceries. I had no idea at the time that it was financially necessary.
When I was little my Mom used to take us out to forage to supplement our groceries. I had no idea at the time that it was financially necessary.
Durains. Stinky Fruit. My wife got one to try, cut it open and I caught a wiff..... tossed my cookies within seconds and ran for outside as it was that bad. Didn't come back inside for hours. Had to air the house out and I refused to move the garbage can to the curb on trash day, it was that bad. Why so many people love it I have no clue.
I read somewhere that dandelion leaves make a good bitter salad green. I plan on trying this, and hopefully getting into more foraged food. Anybody have any links for that?
Deer. Never had it before.
Never had moose or elk, though a lot of people around here hunt them. I have eaten plenty of reindeer, though - fantastic!
I could've done without eating bear, though. Tastes like old tough steak marinated in used motor oil.
That, and there are also plenty of things which are just not sold in stores.
Stinging nettles are also a very good source of greens. You need gloves to pick them, but after they've been boiled they are highly edible and tasty!
I'm thinking that maybe we should start a foraging thread.
I remember Nettles from when we lived in the States, they were good.
I'm thinking that maybe we should start a foraging thread.
BeerGrylls said:I could've done without eating bear, though. Tastes like old tough steak marinated in used motor oil.
My mom has been talking about making Nettle Beer since before I even started brewing. I don't know the exact recipe, but you fill a bucket with nettles, add sugar and cover with water. Float a piece of bread on top. I think you put some bread yeast on that bread, but I'm not sure.
unionrdr said:So what does it taste like? Sounds interesting with grouse...
So what does it taste like? Sounds interesting with grouse...
Just judging by the name, I bet you could use it in beer....
Deer. Never had it before.
The French Ortolan, in the traditionally prepared way.
I just saw where somebody made a comment in this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/whats-your-favorite-snack-while-brewing-443333/
about: Whale Blubber...Yum
I've eaten muktaq (whale blubber) and I gotta say, the only type I kind of liked was the Beluga Whale blubber. Didn't really care for the Gray or Right Whale blubbers and definitely do not like Seal or Walrus blubber.
Yikes...The 6 Most Sadistic Dishes From Around The World
http://www.cracked.com/article_16951_the-6-most-sadistic-dishes-from-around-world.html
wow.... i had to look it up, here are some excerpts from the wikipedia page in case it is blocked in your country by the bird protection lobby or chinese government.
For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets has been the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birdscaptured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnacwere roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God.
The ortolan is force-fed by being placed in a dark box with millet, where as a reaction to darkness it proceeds to eat continuously. One way French diners ate ortolans was to cover their heads and face with a large napkin for the gourmet's aesthetic desire to absorb the maximum odour with the flavor.
If You're going to eat a critter, the very least you can (and should) do is give said critter a clean & quick death. I have no problem killing & eating something, but there is no reason to torture it or make it otherwise suffer before delivering the coup de grace.
Just my 2 cents worth. Regards, GF.
I'm just going to go ahead and say lobster & steamers - we dunk those those buggers into boiling water while alive, as well as prawns that are skewered while still alive. None of the examples I've given are as perverse as the process outlined for preparing an Ortolan, except maybe at seafood processing plants; although really, any animal processing plant can be bad if not regulated properly.
I'd just like to say I make pate quite often, and i have never once rammed a steel pipe down a water fowls gullet and force fed it corn and fat until it's liver reached six times it's normal size.
I'm just going to go ahead and say lobster & steamers - we dunk those those buggers into boiling water while alive, as well as prawns that are skewered while still alive. None of the examples I've given are as perverse as the process outlined for preparing an Ortolan, except maybe at seafood processing plants; although really, any animal processing plant can be bad if not regulated properly.
I'd just like to say I make pate quite often, and i have never once rammed a steel pipe down a water fowls gullet and force fed it corn and fat until it's liver reached six times it's normal size.
I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing you; I was just sharing my thoughts on the subject of the link you posted. And I'm glad you shared the link, I'd never heard of a couple of those.
I do the same with live lobster, blue crabs, shellfish of all sorts. I consider it a quick death for them. I'm not going to drop a live chicken into a pot of boiling water, but for the lobster, I think it's humane. Never heard of skewering live shrimp before. Seems like they'd be kinda tough to eat with the shells on though.
I'm not one to tell others what to eat or not eat, not my biz. (except cannibalism, that's unacceptable, period.) But I can & will voice my opinion on all sorts of things. I suppose I'm a bit of a hypocrite though, in the sense that I have no problem putting a live worm on a hook when fishing & my fresh caught fish usually asphyxiate in a cooler of ice...
But I'm not going to do that to a cow.
Regards, GF.
As far as lobster, crab and other shellfish - I do as you do. However, I once dated a young woman in New England and her family stab a large knife down through the lobster's head to 'kill it humanely before boiling'. I don't know how true it was because the lobsters was still twitching upon entry into the pot.
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEICS5qeE3k
Yeah, stabbing through the head works, but it still occaisionally will still move and twitch. It's just reflex. Putting the lobster in the freezer for a bit before stabbing it helps.
PRE66_6TART said:Lutefisk. Fish soaked in water and lye for two weeks before its cooked. Mmmmm .... Lye
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